Triumphant
by sailorblaze
Summary: 'Things have changed since ya left wit' him, Twahlaght...' The Doctor and Twilight Sparkle land in a future version of Ponyville to find significant changes in Equestria. Doctor Whooves fic.
1. The Crash

_**So, okay. This is Doctor Whooves. Basically, it's a pony fic that is mostly based on Doctor Who WITH PONIES! But aren't all Doctor Whooves fics that? Also, this fic is inspired by/partly based on the video 'Victory - True Ending'. Anywho (lol terrible pun), I hope you enjoy this fic!**_

_**DISCLAIMER: I don't own My Little Pony, the MLP 'Victory' video, the 2008 Doctor Who theme, Doctor Who or Doctor Whooves. If I did, Rose Tyler would have found a way out of Pete's World and still be with the Doctor, the Canterlot Wedding would have a HUGER leadup earlier in the season, Doctor Whooves would be canon, aaaand the Changelings arc would take up more episodes.**_

* * *

**(2008 Doctor Who Opening)**

**The Doctor**

**Twilight Sparkle**

**DOCTOR WHOOVES**

**Triumphant**

**By Sailorblaze**

* * *

Twilight Sparkle placed yet another book on the ever growing stack that was beginning to pile up on the floor of the TARDIS library. Traveling through time and space had its perks, and a library in the time machine was definitely one of them. It was definitely larger than the one back in Ponyville, and had large, towering bookshelves that were filled to the brim with books. Twilight used her magic to search through volumes and volumes of books.

After a few minutes of searching, she found one book and pulled it closer to her. It was a strange book with no title, no author, nothing. It was just rough brown cloth on the front and back. Naturally, this made Twilight interested to see what it was about. She used some more magic to bring a nearby lamp over, and flipped open the book.

To her surprise, the book was only a single photo sandwiched between two covers. The photo contained the Doctor - Twilight's guide on her crazy journey through time and space - along with another mare. This mare was light yellow with a hot pink and red mane, along with light green eyes. Under the picture was a caption scribbled in ink. It said, 'The Doctor and Roseluck - Photo taken by Daisy'. Judging from the section of Daisy's hoof cutting into the picture, she wasn't familiar with the camera at all.

Twilight barely spoke to Roseluck, but she had heard from other ponies that Roseluck left to travel with the Doctor a few months ago. Twilight never received the full details of their adventures, because a few days later, Roseluck returned to Ponyville visibly shaken. It was quite notable that she would change the subject every time the Doctor was brought up in conversation. They looked happy in the picture, though. What could have torn a wonderful friendship apart like that?

Just as these questions started to pour into Twilight's head, the library suffered a huge jolt. The stack of books fell to the ground and snapped Twilight out of her concentration with a sickening thud. Twilight dropped the photo as well. Her head snapped upwards, and she looked out the doorway and into the hallway leading to the console room. "Doctor?" Twilight asked over the noise.

The lavender unicorn ran out the door and into the hallway. She decided to get to the console room right away. If the TARDIS was acting up like this, chances were that something huge was about to go down, and Twilight may be needed by the Doctor for something. Twilight ran down the hallway leading to the TARDIS console room, and once again yelled, "DOCTOR!"

_What could possibly be going on?_ Twilight thought to herself, _Oh no. Oh no no no no no. We can't be attacked now! I haven't even gone on a single adventure yet!_ Twilight continued to run down the hallway, fearing for their current condition. An emergency bell rung in her ears, making the situation seem even more urgent.

Finally, she made it into the TARDIS console room. It was a large room, and definitely larger from the unassuming form of an old Trottingham police box it took on the outside. The room was almost dome shaped, and rested on a metal platform, with a ramp leading to the doors that led to their location outside. Oddly shaped columns held up the ceiling. The centerpiece, however, was a small console with a large glowing column in the center. The console was covered in numerous buttons and switches, and was also equipped with a monitor and a couch.

Working on the console was the Doctor himself. He was an earth stallion with a light brown coat, blue eyes, a spiky brown mane, and an hourglass cutie mark. Twilight had first encountered him when unicorns all over Equestria had begun to lose their magic. Working together, the two ponies were able to unearth a mare's scheme of world changing proportions. After getting the a-okay from Princess Celestia - Twilight's teacher and the wise ruler of Equestria - Twilight joined the Doctor on his travels.

Twilight ran over to the Doctor, and asked, "Doctor, what's going on? I was busy catching up on my studies when everything started quaking!"

The Doctor still kept his eyes locked on the TARDIS console, trying to fix whatever was going on. As he frantically pressed buttons to fix the situation, he told Twilight, "Good question, and to answer that in simplest terms, the TARDIS is slightly malfunctioning. Basically, whenever the TARDIS does that, it sends us way off course and into another location. You know, I was going to take you to visit the founding of Appleloosa. Now we could be going just about anywhere!"

"So that's a bad thing, right?" Twilight asked.

The Doctor replied, "Actually, it all really depends on the time, space, and circumstances. Now, Twilight, do you see those levers over there?" The Doctor pointed, his hoof at the levers in question.

"Yes, why?" Twilight asked inquisitively.

"Well," The Doctor replied, "I need you to hold them down."

Twilight nodded and turned to the levers. She pushed her hooves on them, and grunted. The levers, however, just wouldn't budge. Twilight decided to try a different way to pull the levers. She shut her eyes, and concentrated hard. Suddenly, her horn began to glow, and a similar shine appeared around the levers. Both levers were suddenly pulled down by Twilight's magic. The unicorn concentrated for what seemed like forever, until the Doctor suddenly interjected, "There we go! Those levers will hopefully be able to put us back on the right track again. 'Hopefully' being the key word, of course."

Twilight was too busy concentrating on her magic to respond. The best she could manage was a small nod of the head. Suddenly, the TARDIS jolted again, the alarm resumed, and Twilight was knocked away by the crash. The Doctor was knocked away as well. And then, as soon as it began, the tremors and alarms ended.

"Well, that went well," Twilight muttered sarcastically as she picked herself off of the ground. She walked to the Doctor and looked over his shoulder at the monitor. It displayed a small backstreet with the buildings in complete ruin. Most of them were just piles of rubble. Twilight prayed inside of her that this wasn't where she thought it was. Finally, Twilight asked, "Doctor, why were we sent to this place?"

"Simple: our attempts to set ourselves back on track failed," the Doctor informed, "This only means one thing: our arrival here must be a fixed point in time."

"So we were meant to come here?" Twilight asked. She had read up on the time travel 'lingo' from a book in the TARDIS library.

"Atta girl!" the Doctor told her. Finally, he returned to the monitor. "Apparently, it seems that we landed ten years into your future. As for the place..." The Doctor took on a more grim appearance as he turned to Twilight. "When I tell you where we landed, Twilight, you must promise me not to panic. I need you to stay absolutely calm."

"I promise...?" Twilight asked, slightly scared and very confused. She only had a faint idea of where the Doctor was taking this.

"Good," the Doctor said. After a deep breath, he told her, "Twilight... We landed in Ponyville."

Twilight's confusion turned to shock and grief. She swallowed hard as the tears rolling down her face had already begun to stain her fur. Something is going to happen to Ponyville. What could possibly happen that was so bad? And what would happen to her friends? Oh no. What if they were killed... or worse?

The Doctor must have sensed what was happening to her, and looked Twilight straight in the eyes. "Listen, Twilight. We're going to find out what happened, and we'll make sure nothing," The Doctor paused for a brief second before continuing, "_Nothing_ will hurt Ponyville or your friends. It may seem bleak now, but this is all going to work out in the end. Trust me, Twilight Sparkle; I'm the Doctor."

Twilight nodded, swallowing any doubt along with her. She managed to give the Doctor a small smile. "Alrighty then!" he cried, clopping his hooves on the floor. The Doctor took another close look at the monitor.

"Good idea, Doctor. I don't think that we should leave without checking," Twilight told him, still trying to get over the fact that Ponyville was - possibly - a heap of rubble. What would be worse would be if the Doctor and she were attacked and killed before they could make it out of the TARDIS.

"Appears safe enough," the Doctor told her, peering into the screen. "In fact..." he continued, "It appears to be too safe. We should be careful on our way out." Twilight watched as the Doctor made his way to the doors. He turned back and yelled, "Well, Twilight Sparkle, what are we waiting for? We have a town to save!"

Twilight nodded, and trotted over to him. "I'm not waiting for anything, Doctor. Actually, I'd like to figure out what's going on!"

"In that case, let's go!" the Doctor yelled as he threw open the TARDIS doors with his front hooves. The Doctor walked out of the TARDIS, and Twilight followed him out after gathering the courage to find out what happened to Ponyville.

* * *

_Next time in Triumphant..._

_'How could this happen?'_

_'Alright, Twilight. When I tell you to run... we run.'_

_'Yeah, yeah! That's what they all say!'_

* * *

_**So, next time, we see what happens to Ponyville. We'll also witness the return of an old enemy... and an old friend. Stay tuned!**_


	2. An Unexpected Encounter

_**So, last time, Twilight (who was traveling with the Doctor) and the Doctor experienced some technical difficulties with the TARDIS. They landed in a post disaster Ponyville, and decided to find out what went wrong. **_

_**DISCLAIMER: I don't own My Little Pony, **__**the MLP 'Victory' video, **_the 2008 Doctor Who theme, Doctor Who or Doctor Whooves. If I did, the Rani would had a better character than 'I am evil, I am sooooo evil', Nightmare Moon would be fleshed out, the abforementioned Youtube video would be canon AND an opening for season 3, and I would have connections to your favorite actors on both shows.

* * *

Twilight stepped outside, and observed her surroundings. Ponyville, to say the least, was in complete shambles. The streets were completely empty, except for scattered paper and broken lampposts, and a strong wind blew through the town. Every building was either boarded up, reduced to rubble, or in a state of disrepair. In some parts of Ponyville, nature was beginning to reclaim several buildings. However, there was no sun or moon in the sky. It was just dark grey clouds.

"This is terrible!" Twilight cried, "Some really significant events must have occurred between the time I left and now. But what?"

"Very good question," the Doctor responded, "And the only way we can answer that is if we do some good old fashioned investigation."

Twilight swallowed her fear, straightened herself up, and followed the Doctor as they trekked across Ponyville on the search for answers. Twilight was eager to find out what exactly occured. Everywhere she looked had the same bad news waiting for her. Ponyville seemed to have turn into a disaster zone, and not one pony was in sight. What could have been so terrible that it caused Ponyville to become a ghost town? Suddenly, a thought crossed Twilight. Some of the buildings were still erect - albeit sealed off - so it could be possible for Twilight's library to still be up. Another pony - or even Spike - could have been updating it since her absence... so it was completely plausible for the library to still be up.

"Hey, Doctor?" Twilight asked, "I personally think we should check the Ponyville Library."

"It's probably destroyed along with everything else," the Doctor told her.

"I'm not so sure about that," Twilight told him, "A few of the buildings are still intact. Who's to say that the library isn't one of them?"

"Brilliant, Twilight!" the Doctor cried, "Brilliant!" With a newfound hope, Twilight bounded for the library, with the Doctor following behind and trying to keep up. Inside, Twilight secretly prayed that nothing bad happened to the library as well.

All hope was shattered when Twilight and the Doctor found the Library - or at least, the remnants. All that was left of the library was a foot tall wall of wood, a scorched wood floor, and some burnt pages flying around in the gale. Nothing was salvageable.

"How could this happen?" Twilight screamed, kicking the walls, "What pony would destroy not only my home, but also a library's worth of books?" She stopped kicking the wall, took a deep breath, and turned to the Doctor. "I don't see anything here. Now we're in a tough place."

"Let's try to piece together what we have so far," the Doctor told her, "Sometime in the last ten years, a significant event caused the destruction of Ponyville, along with your library. But what?"

"Maybe we could ask that pony over there?" Twilight asked.

"Over where?"

"Over THERE!" Twilight yelled, pointing her hoof in the direction she wanted the Doctor to look.

"Don't be ridiculous, there's no-" the Doctor stopped when he saw that Twilight was rightl. There WAS a pony over there. It was a white unicorn with a long wavy pink mane, gold eyes, and a cluster of vines for a cutie mark. And she was coming right towards them.

Twilight stepped out in front of the Doctor. "Let me handle this." Twilight looked over to the pony and asked, "Hello...?"

The pony locked eyes with Twilight and grinned manically. "Oh dear, this isn't going well," the Doctor whispered.

Suddenly, the pony began to change. A small puff of turquoise flames burnt away the appearance of the unicorn. Twilight shut her eyes from the bright light burning them. Despite Twilight's efforts, the light still hurt. When she opened her eyes again, a black, insect-like creature with turquiose eyes, torn wings, and sharp white fangs. Twilight immediately knew what this was; she had last seen these at her brother's wedding.

"A CHANGELING!" Twilight yelled. After remembering how she defeated a few of them, she got into a fighting stance. "Doctor, I can take this thing on."

The Doctor looked at the Changeling and then Twilight again. He whispered to her, "Alright, Twilight. When I tell you to run... we run."

Twilight's response was: "Doctor, I've taken on several of these guys before. I don't think that one is going to be much of a problem."

Unfortunately, things got worse. Two more Changelings walked out, obviously annoyed. One of them gave it an irritated expression and yelled at it. The voice was a little unintelligible, but Twilight was able to make out 'You', 'moron', 'attacked', and 'too soon'. Behind the two Changelings were a small group of them.

The Doctor noted to Twilight, "I believe that we should run now."

Twilight looked at the whole group of Changelings. Without her friends there, the two ponies would definitely be outnumbered, and fast. "Good idea!" Twilight yelled.

With that, the Doctor speeded away, and Twilight did her best to stay on the same track as him. They ran up and down the streets of Ponyville - past a dilapidated Sugarcube Corner, through the yard of the sealed off Ponyville Schoolhouse, and running past a crumbling Carousel Boutique. At that point, Twilight looked behind her. To her shock, the Changelings were giving chase, and they were far from the TARDIS. Suddenly, Twilight's eye caught a dark, secluded alleyway. Perfect, she thought, and used her magic to pull the Doctor into the alleyway.

Both ponies found that the alleyway was almost pitch black, thanks to the tall structures, around it that refused to fall down. Several crates, pieces of broken furniture, and trash cans dotted the alleyway. "Doctor, here's what I'm thinking," Twilight whispered, "We wait out the Changelings in here. Once they leave us alone, we..." She paused. "Well, we need to figure out what to do next while we're here."

"After this, we should investigate what happened to Ponyville," the Doctor suggested, "You know, find the survivors, talk to them, gather clues... typical mystery stuff."

"That actually doesn't sound like a bad idea, Doctor," Twilight told him, "We both deserve an explanation about what happened to Ponyville."

Before anything else was discussed, the Changelings began to fill into the alley. Twilight turned away from the Doctor and studied the group. There seemed to be 10 Changelings, and each of them were coming towards the two genuine ponies with hungry looking eyes. "Doctor, if we don't act now, we're going to end up as their dinner," Twilight whispered.

"Well, we've only got two options," the Doctor responded, "Either we run deeper into this alleyway, or we get eaten right here and right now."

Twilight decided in her head that running deeper into the alleyway was a good idea. It was dark, deep, and seemed to go on for ages. She looked over to the Doctor, nodded, and ran deeper with him. They both ran side by side, with the Changelings in hot pursuit.

Unfortunately, the alley wasn't as continuous as they thought. After a few inches, Twilight bumped into a wall. The wall was crumbling and could give way in any seconds. Twilight turned around, and saw the outline of the Changelings coming towards her. She knew what the Changelings were capable of, and picking a fight with 10 of them would definitely not end well. They were both doomed one way of the other.

Suddenly, a shrill cry rang in Twilight's ears. One by one, the Changelings were knocked unconscious. Twilight saw who it was. It was a mare around the same size as her. It was a pegasus as well, and had purplish-red eyes. Twilight couldn't see any other features of the mare, due to the darkness. She looked over to the Doctor. "Doctor! There seems to be another pony here. She may know something about what's going on!"

"Brilliant!" The Doctor replied. Once the mare was finished with defeating the Changelings, the Doctor cried, "Excuse me! We've... well... been out of town for a while, and are curious as to what happened here."

The mare, however, had other plans. "Look, if anypony's gonna be asking anypony around here, it's gonna be me! I've seen this stunt before; two Changelings lure ponies over by pretending to get attacked, and then feed on that pony's love! Thanks to you scum, nopony lives here anymore!"

"But we aren't Changelings!" Twilight argued.

"Yeah, yeah!" the mare snapped, "That's what they all say! Now, listen; what are your motives?"

"We were trying to investigate what happened when we were attacked," the Doctor explained.

"LIAR!" the mare yelled. She mumbled, "By Celestia, I should've brought AJ with me. With her, questioning would be much easier."

As soon as Twilight heard the words 'AJ', she put two and two together. "Applejack's alive?" Twilight asked hopefully.

"Yes, and I'm not letting you two get anywhere near her! She's already lost half of her family to you, and I won't let you take any more ponies away from her!" the mare yelled. "Anyway, where was I?"

At this time, the Doctor decided to interfere. "Listen, I'm sure that interrogating every Changeling in sight is a lovely hobby, but we don't have much time. I'm the Doctor, and this is my faithful companion Twilight Sparkle."

"How terrible are you two?" the mare cried in fury, "Using the names of two missing ponies to convince others that you're good!"

"Now wait a moment," Twilight commented, "If we were Changelings, we would've been attacking you back there with the rest of them!"

"Well, if you're hiding in the dark, you obviously are Changelings that are too lazy to change appearance and are just doing convincing voice imitations," the mare retorted, "So if I am talking to you two in the flesh, step out of the darkness." The mare paused. "Wait a moment. Better test in mind. Twilight's a unicorn. So if you're really those two, then Twilight should be able to use her magic to light up this place!"

Twilight, eager to prove who she and the Doctor were, casted a light spell. Soon, the alleyway was flooded with light thanks to Twilight. The Doctor told Twilight, "Open your eyes, Twilight. I believe there's a pleasant surprise waiting for you."

Twilight opened her eyes. Standing in front of her was Twilight's old friend, Rainbow Dash. She hadn't changed very much, apart from seeming like she had had several restless nights. "Rainbow, is that you?" Twilight asked.

"Yep!" Rainbow grinned, "The one and only!"

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but it's been ten years, hasn't it?" Twilight asked.

Rainbow nodded. "You could've at least wrote to the gang and me!" Twilight nodded, beginning to feel guilty for leaving.

"I don't mean to intrude," the Doctor said, "But we need to find out what had happened. Now, Rainbow, do you know anything?"

"I know a lot!" Rainbow yelled, "But I have to get back to Camp S-Double-A before everypony else begins to worry about me."

"Fair enough," the Doctor told the mares, "In that case, Twilight-"

"Actually, Doctor," Twilight announced, "I'd like to go with Rainbow Dash. I'm sure that all of my friends miss me, and maybe they know something about what's going on as well."

The Doctor nodded. "Of course. And in that case, I'll go investigate Ponyville on my own."

"See you later, Doctor!" Twilight cried.

"Yeah, bye Doc!" Rainbow added as she flew out of the alley. Twilight nodded and followed after the pegasus, trying to catch up.

The Doctor watched them fly off. Suddenly, he remembered what Rainbow called him. He responded by running out of the alley and calling, "IT'S THE DOCTOR!" Unfortunately, the two mares were already too far ahead to hear him. The Doctor sighed and walked off, ready to investigate.

* * *

_Next time in Triumphant..._

_'Right this way, Twilight!'_

_'Oh thank goodness! We thought something terrible happened to you!'_

_'Why? What happened?'_

_'Things have changed since ya left wit' him, Twahlaght...'_

* * *

_**Next time, we follow Twilight and Rainbow Dash as they return to Camp S-Double-A. We'll catch up with some very familiar faces and if that last 'next time' quote means anything, some exposition is given out! Stay tuned!**_

_**Additionally: I'm not going to be able to write for 3 weeks starting Sunday. So, if there are any questions, concerns, or milkshakes, NOW would be the time. Also, these two chapters are going to be the only ones for a while.**_


	3. The Reunion

_**I'M BACK! So last time, Twilight and the Doctor discovered that the Changelings had returned to Ponyville. They were just about done for when Rainbow Dash swooped in and fought the Changelings. After proving their identities to the skeptical pegasus, Twilight followed her friend to a location referred to as 'Camp S-Double-A'. Today, we'll find some much-deserved information.**_

_**DISCLAIMER: I don't own My Little Pony, the 'Victory' video, the 2008 Doctor Who theme, Doctor Who or Doctor Whooves. If I did, we'd have a 'Three Doctors' special with Christopher, David and Matt, more Discord, (possibly) more Trixie, and much less Diamond Tiara (seriously, Diamond Tiara is a pain).**_

* * *

"Rainbow, I heard you mention some place called 'Camp S-Double-A," Twilight told her friend as they walked down the quiet, demolished streets of Ponyville.

"Where exactly are you going with this, Twi?" Rainbow questioned as she fluttered a foot over Twilight.

"Well, what is it?" Twilight asked, "You've never mentioned it before... in the past, I mean."

"You're supposed to be smart," Rainbow told her, "What else has the initials 'S.A.A.'?"

Twilight thought for a while. When she realized what Rainbow was talking about, Twilight nearly facehoofed. _I'm so stupid for not remembering_, Twilight thought. "Sweet Apple Acres!"

"Yep!" was the response from the pegasus, "At least, it used to be Sweet Apple Acres until other ponies stumbled in looking for a place to stay." Twilight gave Rainbow a confused look. "It's complicated," Rainbow told her.

"Really," Twilight murmured, nodding to signal that she was still interested. This is all confusing, she thought, but I'm sure everypony will clear this up for me when the time comes.

"Now then!" Rainbow yelled, "Right this way, Twilight!" Said unicorn nodded, and ran to keep up with Rainbow Dash's pace. They were heading down a dusty road leading out of the ransacked Ponyville. Mostly dead trees surrounded the road. Twilight peered into the distance, and saw that Sweet Apple Acres still seemed to be intact. This gave her a ton of hope, seeing that the Changelings hadn't attacked the farm yet. As they drew closer, Twilight noticed that a slit was made into the barn door at eye level. She was interested to know why the change was made, but she would find out in due time.

Finally, they made it to Sweet Apple Acres, or Camp S-Double-A as it was called now. The apple trees were thankfully still up, so there was at least some normalcy remaining in the Apple Family's life. Rainbow looked into the slit and knocked four times. Finally, a familiar voice came from the other side. "Who's this?"

"Applejack!" Rainbow yelled, "It's me, Rainbow Dash! And I brought Twilight here as well. Don't worry; she's not one of 'them'. I checked."

Applejack opened the door and studied Twilight, looking at her from the doorway. After what seemed like forever, her face brightened. "Twahlaght! Thank goodness yer back!" The orange Earth Pony ushered in Rainbow and Twilight, shut the door, and ran out in front of them. "Hey, everypony!" Applejack called, "Twahlaght's back!"

Twilight quickly looked around the room. It didn't look different from what it would usually look like, except that some blankets and makeshift beds were set up around the room. Hoofsteps were heard and then a whole stampede of ponies came out from everywhere. Some came from upstairs and the cellar. Some came out of different rooms. Most of the ponies filed through the back door. When they saw Twilight, they smiled and cheered at the purple unicorn. At the front of the pack was none other than two more of Twilight's friends: Rarity and Fluttershy. "Twilight, dear," Rarity greeted, "It's been such a long time!"

Twilight could only just smile. Fluttershy added, "Oh thank goodness! We thought something terrible happened to you!"

This caused Twilight to be confused. She knew something terrible happened to Equestria involving the Changelings... but what? What did everypony know that she didn't? "Why?" Twilight questioned, "What happened?"

Rainbow turned to Applejack. "Should we tell her?"

Applejack nodded. "Twahlaght's been gone fer ten years travelin' wit' tha Doctor. She deserves ta know." Applejack turned to Twilight and took a few steps over to her. "Raght then. Things have changed since ya left wit' him, Twahlaght-"

"I know that," Twilight told her, "But what exactly?"

"Everythin', Twahlaght," Applejack continued, "Fahve years after ya left, the Changelin's returned. How they did tha', nopony knows. Bu' they returned, along wit' their queen,. We trahd ta hold 'em back to tha bes' of our 'bilities, bu' we failed. In tha end, we lost tha battle an' Ponyville. Several buildin's, lahke yer library, were demolished as well."

Twilight remembered the two ponies who had been the target of the Changelings the last time they invaded. "What happened to my brother and Princess Cadence? Are they okay?"

"They're okay!" Rainbow reassured, "They're just with Luna."

"Where's Luna?" Twilight asked. She was also curious as to what happened to the princesses.

"Luna is journeying through all of Equestria," Rarity added, "Shining Armor, Cadence, and she is trying to find enough ponies to rebuild our military. They're trying to reclaim Canterlot from the Changelings, which is under their full control. Oh, and little Spikey Wikey's with them. The poor thing was heartbroken when you didn't return after all of those years."

"I'll apologize to him about not being there for him when I see him next time," Twilight told her, "What about Celestia?"

"Oh..." Applejack said sadly, "Ah don't think we should tell ya in front of tha fillies." Applejack nodded towards her little sister Apple Bloom, Rarity's sister Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and a few others. The foals were happy to see that Twilight was alright and bombarding her with questions about the Doctor and where she had been.

"Okay...?" Twilight agreed, concerned. Suddenly, she realized that there was one pony that she hadn't seen yet. It was suspicious, as this pony would have made herself known to Twilight almost right away. "Girls, what happened to Pinkie Pie?"

"Um..." Fluttershy started, "She was... well... trapped by the Changelings."

"I'll explain, Fluttershy," Rainbow said, "Okay, so the Changelings made this love stealing thingy in Canterlot where they feed on a ton of pony's love. Meanwhile, said ponies are dreaming about being with their friends, unaware about what's going on. That's where Pinkie is, or so our sources say. We were making a plan to save her, but we'll have to change up some things because the Doctor and you are here now. It's not that big of deal."

Twilight suddenly understood what her friends may be attempting. "I get it! We have to save Pinkie so we can use the full power of the Elements of Harmony to send the Changelings away!" Silence. Twilight nervously added, "…Right?"

Twilight's friends started to exchange glances with each other nervously. After a few minutes of awkward silence, Applejack spoke up. "Twahlaght, Ah may have fergot ta mention sumthin'," she told Twilight, "Nopony really believes in tha Elements anymore."

* * *

The Doctor groaned in frustration. No matter how hard he looked around Ponyville, he wasn't getting any kind of lead on what happened in the past 10 years. It seemed to him that the Changelings were good at not leaving clues about the events that transpired. The Doctor sighed, knowing that it wasn't worth continuing to search here. Maybe he should go get Twilight and tell her that he couldn't find anything at all.

The Doctor turned around and retraced his steps to the dark alleyway from before and was about to go the direction that Twilight and Rainbow went when he stopped. The Doctor looked into the alleyway, which was still filled with the unconscious Changelings. The Doctor squinted and counted the bodies again. "Now wait a moment, something isn't right," the Doctor said to himself, "There seems to be one less Changeling than before."

The Doctor took a few more steps towards the alleyway to investigate. He didn't go far before a voice yelled, "DOCTOR!" The Doctor turned around and saw Twilight running towards him, seeming worked up about something.

"Hello, Twilight," the Doctor greeted. He showed her the bodies. "Now take a gander at this. There were ten Changelings that were trying to attack us back there. But if you look at this scene now, there are only nine Changelings unconscious. Somepony – or rather, some _changeling_ – is alive and well, and could be anywhere in Ponyville." He turned to face Twilight. "What do you think of that?"

Twilight seemed to be a little uncomfortable. She glanced from side to side. "Well... I guess that one probably left to go back to… that place where they are. Anyway, Doctor, there's something I need to show you. We should get to the TARDIS." As an afterthought, she added, "It's in Canterlot."

The Doctor eyed Twilight suspiciously. The latter smiled at the Doctor in a reassuring manner. "Maybe you're correct," the Doctor said after a few minutes of deliberation, "Perhaps there are a few clues waiting for us in Canterlot. Come on then, Twilight; allons-y!"

The Doctor trotted back to the TARDIS, knowing that his loyal companion would follow behind. What he didn't notice was Twilight's normally dark purple eyes briefly flash to turquoise before tagging along.

* * *

_Next time in Triumphant..._

_'Alraght, so here's tha plan so far...'_

_'Twilight, there's something I need to tell you.'_

_'What makes you think I'm not alright, Doctor?'_

* * *

_**Next time, we learn about this strategy that Rainbow hinted at and what exactly happened to the princess (and more info about Pinkie Pie). Meanwhile, the Doctor's suspicion about what 'Twilight' wants to show him grows. Stay tuned and be happy!**_


End file.
